Chasing Trains Day 2: The Glacier Express

Sunday, May 12, 2013

It was the 16th of December, but to me it was Christmas morning.

Quite apt, because the last time I willingly woke up this early was when I was a kid eager to find out what Santa has left under the tree. But instead of a gift-wrapped box and a card with my mom's very distinct handwriting, I had tickets to the Glacier Express.
The moment I found out there was a scenic train through the Alps I knew I had to take it. Spending long hours inside a moving cabin may not be everyone's idea of fun, but to me it sounded like the perfect way to see the Alps by my lonesome.

Unfortunately this was not covered by my Eurail pass; all I got was a measly discount. I'm saying this because there are a lot of people who boarded the train with me that were not aware of this and were shocked when they were asked to pay, and doubly so by the price they had to shell out. But of all the things I spent for in this whole crazy vacation, this one is definitely worth it.

After a quite lackluster hotel breakfast (a shame, really, considering how wonderful everything else in Zermatt was), I waved goodbye to the Matterhorn and trudged through the ankle-deep snow towards the train station. I was nearly an hour early - that's how excited I was.

The early bird gets the empty train pictures

I even had enough time for a selfie. Excuse the crazy eye baggage, but sleep wasn't exactly my top priority at this point.

Special days call for special lippies: NARS Schiap

I was lucky enough to get a solo seat on the right side of the train, which according to my research is the better, more scenic side when traveling from Zermatt. And indeed it was.

Couldn't blame them for wanting to take photos, can you?

Not bad for my first trip through Switzerland. Not bad at all. To be honest I thought views like these are only found in storybooks and things.

I actually didn't take the whole route due to time constraints. Well that, and the fact that I can't afford an overnight stay in St. Moritz. But it is still more than five hours from Zermatt to Chur.

They did serve meals on board, and while they're not bad they are of course overpriced. But I figured since I'm only doing this once I might as well splurge on the three-course meal and a beverage or two (or three). There is just something so wonderfully awesome about idly sipping a warm cup of tea as grand things pass by right outside your window.

The Glacier Express goes up to an altitude of two thousand meters, where everything is pristine and white and beautiful.

Sigh. One day I'll come back and stay here longer (and maybe go sit on one of those benches). I promise.

The last leg of the trip, from Disentis to Chur, was a bit of a bore (relative to the rest of the trip, of course), which was good because at least I didn't alight from the train with much reluctance. It's about three in the afternoon, and while I feel as though I've just been through the experience of a lifetime, I have a couple more trains to chase after before I can call it a day.

(To be continued)

More information on the Glacier Express here.
To see all posts in this series, click here.